De Sa back in the game

ANA

Roger De Sa (Chris Ricco/BackpagePix)

After a six-month break from football, newly-appointed Platinum Stars coach Roger De Sa will no doubt be relishing the challenge in the North West province.

De Sa was officially confirmed on Friday evening as the new Dikwena coach and takes over from Englishman Peter Butler, who was sacked after only two games in charge, which ended in defeats to Cape Town City and Maritzburg United.

“Platinum Stars is pleased to announce Roger De Sa as the club’s new coach following the departure of Peter Butler,” the club tweeted.

The likes of Ernst Middendorp and Kosta Papic had also been linked with the Dikwena hot-seat.

The 52-year-old De Sa’s last post in the PSL was at Maritzburg, but he left in March after only a couple of months in charge, citing family reasons as his reason for the short stay. Prior to arriving at the KZN outfit, he had been one of the candidates linked with the then vacant Bafana Bafana head coach position.

Before that, he had enjoyed a fairly successful three-year spell with Ajax Cape Town, with whom he won the 2015 MTN8 competition.

The former Bidvest Wits mentor, who was a goalkeeper for Moroka Swallows and Mamelodi Sundowns in his own playing days, is also remembered for his time as Orlando Pirates coach, having taken the Buccaneers all the way to the final of the 2013 CAF Champions League.

De Sa’s first assignment with the Rustenburg-based Stars will be a league encounter against SuperSport United in Pretoria on Tuesday night, where he will be up against his old friend – his former right-hand man at Wits and Pirates, Eric Tinkler.

Stars, currently bottom of the table after two rounds of action, finished in ninth position last season, having ended the 2015/16 campaign in third spot.